Boundaries of Directives
by ranoma369
Summary: Directives tell robots everything. What to do. Where to go. After some hundred years though, some robots might wander away from their directives, while others insist they follow the directives to the dot. Why is that? What are the boundaries? Do breaking points really break walls, or do they really reinforce them?
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello fellow readers! I have had this idea for a while, and I finally found enough time to write this up. I love WALL-E, and while I love our two stars, I felt as if the other AI have so much to offer, so I started writing this fanfic with the purpose of looking into the other bots' minds and relationships and how these relate to and conflict with their directives. I will be basing this fanfic around GO-4 and AUTO, but I might be doing it directly through their perspectives, or the perspectives of others.**

**This is the first time I posted a fanfic online, and I am by no means an great writer; Some of my weak points are grammar and pacing, so I am sorry for any mistakes. Also, I am new to writing for WALL-E, so I apologize if any characters are OOC. If you find any errors, please tell me and I will do my best to fix them. Alright, enough of me rambling. Enjoy!**

**Rated T to be safe.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own WALL-E. It belongs to Pixar. **

TYP-E hung silently, his pointer-like hands resting above the touchscreen keyboard. Every so often, he would press a series of keys, executing a command or writing down a part of a report. His hands would move slowly, almost lazily, across the screen, as if he was weighed down by the repetitiveness of the motion. It was not that he didn't _like_ his job. After all, to every robot, directive is everything. Order and objective.

On some days though, like today, it could feel excruciatingly tedious. The typing bot stared down at the screen, before pressing another button.

Hands always perpendicular to the board. Always the same action.

A sudden voice caught his attention, breaking him out of his thoughts and the monotony of his work. Missing the words, the typing bot dragged his gaze upwards, searching for the owner of the voice. A familiar, small, red and white bot met his gaze. _Go-4_, TYP-E recognized. The bot was hovering a couple centimeters off the ground, glaring impatiently at TYP-E. The small, dark optic of the head of security drove deep into his own large, red one. Knowing better than to keep GO-4 waiting, TYP-E lowered his gaze to the screen and pressed a button. The force field blocking a door shut down, letting the little robot enter. GO-4 passed through, neither looking back nor showing gratitude.

TYP-E stared dully after him, feeling irritated and to his surprise, slightly amused. Everyone, human or robot, knew GO-4 was not a bot who tolerated games for long. Strict and stiff, the head of security and his team of Stewards tracked down whatever was causing the trouble, putting an end to it as efficiently as possible. It's either you comply with him, or you are forced. No questions asked.

And even though GO-4's work did keep the ship safe, he was not the most popular bot around. Rude, other bots called him when he wasn't listening. Arrogant. Antisocial. Given his duty, TYP-E had dealt with GO-4's attitude enough that he was no longer fazed by the rudeness. Irritated, sure, but not as upset as other bots might be. Besides, even if he hadn't, he wouldn't have said anything anyways. His work might seem to consist of mindless typing, but that didn't make him dull. He knew his place.

TYP-E looked back down at his screen, staring at the lines upon lines of keys thoughtfully. 400 years was more than enough time to get to know the patterns and behavior of the bots that frequently came up here. GO-4 was activated a few months after the Axiom took off, when it was decided that the captain needed more than just AUTO. Even then, GO-4 was not much of a talker. As time passed, though, GO-4 came and went, his visiting times becoming longer and more frequent as the humans became more and more incompetent.

Movement crossed his field of vision, and TYP-E looked up just in time to see GO-4 glide out and make his way to the elevator. _He stayed longer than the last time he came__**, **_TYP-E mused. Longer than usual. This wasn't the first time it happened. Yes, the humans were getting increasingly incompetent, but the meetings were increasing almost exponentially with every visit, both in count and in length. There were dips in the data, sure, but the pattern was there. In addition, TYP-E felt something different about GO-4. It was subtle, and he could not figure out what it was.

Hopefully, there was nothing wrong in the Axiom. None that he had heard of, anyways. Even though word traveled much slower than they had in the beginning, he still manage to know what is going on around the ship.

GO-4… TYP-E felt like he knew something about that little bot, but at the same time nothing. He decided that he would not interfere. He would wait and watch, and time should reveal everything.

He looked down at his screen and resumed his work.

**Well, hopefully that went alright and wasn't hard to read. I would really appreciate it if you leave me a review. I love **_**constructive**_** criticism. Saying that I am a bad writer will not help me. Anyways, hope you enjoyed that, and thank you so much for reading. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Oh gosh, I have neglected this fanfic for too long! I'm so sorry DX Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hopefully, this makes up for the wait.**

**To LadySindrak: Awww thank you! ^_^ I love TYP-E too. Actually, I love all the robots, heehee! Thanks for your feedback and correction! I really appreciate it! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own WALL-E or any characters associated with it. It belongs to Pixar. **

**Chapter 1**

AUTO rested above the Axiom Computer, as composed as ever, his wheel shifting ever so slightly as he piloted the spacecraft. Below, Captain Thompson snoozed on, lost in his sea of dreams, unaware of the day's significance. All the better.

A soft ping, followed by the voice of the main computer, resonated softly through the bridge, notifying the autopilot of the Axiom Return Vehicles's arrival. Pensive, the bot stared out into the mass of stars before spinning his wheel, redirecting the Axiom deeper into space and farther from Earth, Directive A113 coursing through his code.

* * *

The Computer's signal reached two Stewards, booting them out of sleep mode. They rolled out of their stations just as GO-4 slid down and out of the chute between them. "Fall in," the red and white leader commanded without a glance, his low, normally well composed voice carrying a hint of irritation. The Stewards promptly fell into position, following the red and white construct as he sped off along the red line.

Static fizzled around them as tension settled between the three bots. Every Steward knew how seriously their leader took his directive. While GO-4's leadership and ability to keep a level head in difficult situations were well appreciated within the team, the small bot had a tendency to be unreasonable when provoked.

And GO-4 had always been more unreasonable than usual during the days when the EVE Probes made their yearly trip.

The bot had been rather irritable for the past few days. Instead of calmly issuing them orders, as the leader usually would, GO-4 had snapped commands at every Steward, often chastising them for events and consequences the Stewards had no control over. The two security bots watched warily as GO-4 scanned each probe. As much respect as the Stewards have the little construct, it was times like these that made the head of security absolutely unbearable.

"Steward unit 133. Steward unit 134. Come with me," GO-4 barked when he finished processing the last scan. The Stewards barely finished replying "Yes, sir," when the small bot sped off, and the two hurried to escort him.

The day was still early, 6:26 Earth-hours in the morning to be exact. It wasn't a surprise to find so few humans stirring at this time of the day. Most other constructs were still in sleep mode. An occasional Steward can be seen patrolling the halls, but GO-4 paid no mind, much to the escorting bots' confusion. Their suspicions were confirmed when GO-4 dismissed them, sounding distracted as he slid off and towards TYP-E's site. While their leader's preoccupied state of mind puzzled the Stewards, the two Stewards were happy to push it away and return to their stations, relieved to be free from the prickly GO-4.

* * *

GO-4 slipped into the bridge and looked around for the autopilot. He found AUTO hanging in front of a window gazing out at space, his wheel spinning slowly. The autopilot, in deep thought, had not noticed his assistant's arrival. GO-4 gazed at the the wheel of the Axiom, the only construct he truly respected, admiration flooded his circuits.

Snapping himself out of it, GO-4 called out, "AUTO, sir."

The autopilot wheeled around. "Report," the superior commanded in code.

GO-4 saluted. "EVE Probes returned negative, sir." Satisfied, AUTO turned to rest above the main computer, this time overlooking the Lido Deck.

GO-4 hesitated. A query was burning in his mind, yet he was unsure whether he should voice it. He knew all about Directive A113, and he was as devoted to it as AUTO was. However…. GO-4 shifted uneasily. The head of security was no fool. With each passing year, the possibility of a probe returning positive increased. He decided to go through with his thoughts. "Sir?" the smaller bot cautiously called out.

"Yes, GO-4."

"Should the EVE Probes return positive—"

AUTO spun around to face the assistant, his red eye darkening. "Dispose of specimen." The autopilot's tone had a dark edge to it that left no room for question. GO-4 attempted to stand his ground despite AUTO's imposing stature and forbidding mood. "Must follow Directive A113."

"Understood, sir. However—"

"Must follow our directive," the autopilot pushed. There was that statement, the sentence that GO-4 had heard time and again from his superior. "Survival of humans is essential."

"Ah, GO-4. Nice to see you here." A new voice spoke up and the two constructs looked up from each other to notice that Captain Thompson had woken up, completely unaware of the conversation between the two bots. AUTO greeted the captain and GO-4 saluted. "Bring me a cup of coffee, would ya?" the captain asked as he set to work checking the starfleet's status.

Despite his indignation that he was given such a task, the small robot saluted again, returning with the requested drink just as Thompson finished up the status checks.

"Sir," AUTO addressed the captain as GO-4 deposited the cup in the captain's hand before floating back to AUTO's side. "The EVE Probes have returned from their yearly investigation."

Thompson's eyes widened. "Already? Well, what are the results?"

"EVE Probes returned negative."

Thompson slumped, but pressed on. "Negative? Are you sure?"

GO-4, standing at attention, stiffened in offense. The gears behind AUTO's faceplate turned and his wheel twitched the slightest bit. As little emotion as the wheel's vocal voice allowed, irritation still managed to show. "Affirmative, captain."

The captain sighed, defeated. "I'm sorry. It's wrong of me to doubt you. It's just that…" Thompson paused. "…It's been over four hundred years. When will we ever return home?"

"That is indeterminate," came the autopilot's reply. Despite the depressing news, the captain fought a smile in response to the wheel's answer to his rhetorical question.

The brief moment of humor passed, Thompson sighed again, feeling his age. "It's almost time for me to step down as captain. Over another hundred years have passed, yet still no specimen." Silence rang through the bridge for a moment, neither human or robot saying a word. AUTO returned to his usual spot, opening up the Lido Deck for the day. Below, serving robots started to boot up, and the early-rising humans, however few there were nowadays, started to wander through the decks. The captain spoke again. "AUTO."

"Sir?"

"If the EVE Probes ever come back positive after my days as a captain, make sure that all the humans make it back home safely. Watch over them, AUTO."

GO-4 fixed his sight ahead as he stood at attention, betraying nothing of the unease he felt as the autopilot answered affirmatively. All the previous captains had made similar requests. GO-4 reached into his files and reviewed a part of his directives: _Carry out orders of captain and autopilot of spacefleet._

Directive A113 ensured day where the two orders would clash. Directive against directive. Who should he obey then? GO-4 tried again with the autopilot. "Sir, the directives—"

AUTO retorted strongly in code. "_Must follow our directive,_" he repeated sternly.

"Sir —"

"This discussion has proven pointless," AUTO replied, eye dark with suppressed frustration. "You are dismissed."

"Yes sir," GO-4 quickly replied, snapping off a salute before bolting from the room, no less uneasy than when he first arrived, and now fearful of AUTO's temper. The captain watched the little exchange, before chuckling and shaking his head, assuming a much less conflicted conversation between the two constructs.

AUTO turned toward Thompson. "Captain?" the wheel questioned, not sure what to make of the laughing.

"It's nothing, AUTO." Thompson reassured, taking a sip of his coffee.

**GO-4, why are you so hard to write!? Well, hopefully I got AUTO's and GO-4's characters down. By the way, this fanfic will consist of several time jumps, since I'm trying to portray how the characters might have changed over time. Hopefully, this does not bother anyone. I'm not sure when I'll update again, but hopefully it's soon! Please leave a review and feel free to provide constructive criticism or point out any errors. As always, I hope you enjoyed that! Thank's for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Thank you everyone for the continued support! Glad you are enjoying this story so far! Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint ^_^  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own WALL-E or any characters associated with it. It belongs to Pixar. **

**Chapter 2**

Despite how sanitized the Axiom was kept, Thompson had somehow caught some sort of virus about a week ago. And even though he was recovering (surprisingly quickly, given his old age), he had still woken up that morning with another headache and sore throat. Regardless, he proceeded with his duties, not giving the symptoms much thought, even when the soreness refused to die down several cups of water later.

"Morning AUTO," he greeted half-heartedly as he reached the bridge, getting a low "greetings captain" in response. Heading toward his station, he started the morning broadcast. "Good morning, ladies and gentleman." Thompson winced and cleared his throat, trying to speak around the pain. "Hope you all are having a wonderful December 14th, 2515. As you can see, the weather is…"

AUTO watched silently as Thompson droned on, all too aware that something was wrong with the captain. "Captain," he addressed as soon as the captain finished up the announcements.

"What is it, AUTO?" Thompson sighed, rubbing his face with a hand while moving to get a cup of coffee.

"Permission to summon the medical crew, sir."

Thompson blinked, taking a while to figure out what prompted the question and uttering a soft "oh" when he did. "AUTO," he started, trying to reassure his co-captain. "It's probably a small relapse. I'm fine."

AUTO, however, had other ideas. He quickly ran a scan over Thompson, much to the elder captain's annoyance. The results showed that Thompson was indeed ill, as AUTO had suspected, running a body temperature of 38.111 degrees Celsius. "Negative, captain. You are not well. Suggested action is to return to quarters. CLNI-C units will arrive shortly."

Rest did sound good, Thompson acknowledged. He was tired, both from his duties and from his battles with the sickness. However, he had to continue on his day, not only because of his duties, but also because of Brace's training. It was of the utmost importance for the young captain-to-be to complete his training and assessment programs, as well as get as much experience as he possibly could before Thompson left this world. The captain groaned and massaged his temples. It would take a lot for AUTO to willingly accept his actions, and arguing with an extremely stubborn autopilot would definitely not help his headache. "No, AUTO. You know that Brace has to continue his training. He has already missed most of last week due to my state of health."

There is a pause. "Permission to cancel Captain Brace's training for today, captain."

"Oh, for—" Thompson threw his arms up in exasperation. His patience was not the best at the moment, and the current debate was quickly adding fuel to his irritation. Taking a few deep breaths, he managed to ground out, "Just… drop the topic for the day, AUTO."

"Sir—"

"That's an _order_!" The captain snapped.

Silence filled the room, long and loud, punctuated only by the hum and whirs of machinery. Guilt started seeping into his stomach as he watched his partner. AUTO's wheel was spinning slightly as the construct struggled between his two directives: the directive of keeping the captain alive and healthy, and the directive of always following a captain's orders.

He was about to apologize and retract his order, when the wheel made his decision. "…Aye, aye, sir." With that, AUTO retracted into the ceiling, only to appear again in what seemed to be one of AUTO's favorite locations, hanging in front of the main computer where the bot could case out onto the Lido Deck.

"Um… yes." Thompson cleared his throat, grimacing at how raw it felt. "Right." The two worked quietly for a while. Thompson shifted uneasily as the silence stretched, as guilt continued eating at him. He had to say something…. Maybe a compromise of sorts? Thompson licked his lips. "Maybe you were right about canceling Brace's training for today, though. Permission granted."

"…Yes, captain."

* * *

There was no denying that the symptoms were getting worse. Thompson coughed vigorously into his elbow, his frame shuddering as he tried to suppress them. With almost a kind of desperation, he grasped for the cup of water, bringing the straw to his mouth and downing the liquid in large gulps in an attempt to soothe both the cough and the burning fire in his throat, extremely conscious of the AUTO's stare as he swallowed the last of the drops.

His order was probably the only thing that was keeping AUTO from confronting him, Thompson mused as he took a few more sips from a new cup. It was obvious that AUTO had noticed his worsening condition as well. However, the bot's programming demanded that the bot obey Thompson's wishes, and his wish was to leave the matter of his sickness alone. As long as Thompson's life wasn't in danger, AUTO would probably never approach the topic again for the rest of the day, not without the captain's consent.

A familiar melancholy crept into Thompson's chest as he reflected upon that fact. When he was a young child, he had often wondered what it would be like to live the life of a robot, having his actions and available choices planned out for him beforehand. "Young man, you are too curious for your own good!" his mother would scold him whenever he brought out the subject. Regardless, the question stuck with him through his life. An effect of being around so many robots all his life, he supposed. The prospect of having everything written out for him had made him uneasy then, and it still disturbed him now.

"Captain?" Thompson blinked as AUTO's low timbre snapped Thompson out of his thoughts, and he found himself staring at the construct, who had turned to face him.

"Ah, it's nothing AUTO," Thompson replied. He grimaced and cleared his throat. Just how long had he been looking at AUTO? "I was just thinking."

Seeing that captain had nothing else to tell him. AUTO turned back to the main computer. His circuits clenched and his wheel twitched slightly at the sight of the sick captain, and he fought the urge to summon the CLNI-C bots. The captain had explicitly stated that he wanted to have nothing to do with them today, forbidding AUTO from such an action. A notification popped up on the screen, and he turned his attention towards it, for once grateful for the distraction. It seemed that a robot had escaped from the repair ward. He immediately signaled for GO-4 to take care of the situation.

"Are you still sulking about this morning?"

AUTO turned towards Thompson, confused with the question. "Not possible. Robots do not have emotions. Therefore, they cannot sulk." Thompson looked absolutely amused at his response, confusing him even more.

"Oh, AUTO." Calming down and setting his cup aside, the captain settled himself beside AUTO and looked out over the Lido Deck. "I know. You keep saying that."

"It is a logical fact." AUTO swept a scan over the captain once more, thinking that the illness had affected the captain to the point where it altered Thompson's thinking. Analyzing the results, AUTO took note that the fever had gone up significantly through the day. "Captain…." He paused, deliberating what to do.

The captain suddenly spoke up. "Okay, AUTO, you win."

"Sir?"

"Call up the CLNI-C units, AUTO. I think I might need some checking over after all."

The uncomfortable, strict constraints of his programing appeared to loosen immediately after Thompson gave his approval. "Affirmative, captain." Had AUTO been human, he would have sighed in relief. As it were, he simply pressed a few buttons, summoning the two CLNI-C units and GO-4.

* * *

Designed to be a mostly stationary robot, the escaped L-T unit and her maximum speed left a lot to be desired. Her swerves were the only quality that held off the crowd of less maneuverable Stewards chasing her down. Humans cried out in pain and irritation as her light, stuck on and flickering irregularly, flashed in their eyes.

Turning, she bolted down a corridor. She had been stuck in the repair ward for far too long. For the last five Earth-years, she had been nothing but a broken construct stuck behind a force-field door, a bot the repair crew never got around to fixing. Now that she had earned her freedom back, she wasn't about to give it up that easily. Besides, getting caught would undoubtedly mean severe punishment.

"Halt!"

Suddenly several Stewards approached her from ahead, cut off her path in front of her. Skidding to a stop, she headed back, only to find herself surrounded. The infamous small red and white bot made his way towards her, and L-T lowered her head, knowing that she was defeated. "GO-4, sir," She greeted softly. Maybe showing some respect would get her a less severe penalty.

"L-T unit 429." By the sound of GO-4's voice, though, the possibility of that was close to none. "Are you aware of your infraction." GO-4 had not intended it to be a question.

"Yes, sir." L-T squirmed under the head of security's dark gaze.

"State your infraction." L-T thought his one eye just got darker, if that was possible.

"Escape from the repair ward, sir. I have no excuse." It was better to just cooperate GO-4's questioning. There were numerous stories about how the uncooperative constructs had met their fates. She shuddered, recalling how some of such bots have been reduced to scrap metal, recycled into another construct or, rarely, just thrown away into the depths of space.

GO-4's voice jolted her back to the present moment. "That is correct. Therefore, you will come with—" the bot trailed off. L-T kept her head lowered for a bit longer before looking up in confusion.

"Sir?"

That seemed to recapture his attention. "Yes… indeed. You will come willingly with me, or suffer the consequences." The small bot seemed distracted, though, his mind not entirely on her capture. Turning, GO-4 addressed the Stewards through a private connection, issuing some sort of command. L-T waited, at a loss at what else to do. Suddenly, most of the Stewards turned and left, leaving only two behind, who immediately fell into place behind their superior. "Move," came the order, signaling L-T to walk in front of them.

Unknown to the other three robots, GO-4 was reeling in his thoughts as he made his way to the bridge. He had just received a signal from AUTO summoning him to the bridge, something he would be doing anyways after capturing the escaped bot. What could have been so urgent that AUTO had to send a message requesting an action that would have happened anyways? As GO-4 neared the entrance to TYP-E's station, hesitation filled him once more. Ever since his query regarding directives fifteen years ago, his relationship with AUTO hadn't really been the same. Was the second summon due to something he had done? What would AUTO want with him?

**I swear, AUTO and GO-4 must have the some of most difficult programing to live with DX Poor fellas. All just to protect the humans. Anyways, that's it for now! Hope you enjoyed that! Feel free to point out any errors that you see. Any reviews and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated! And as always, thanks for reading.**


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